(ANS - Medellín) - From 29 September to 1 October, more than 180 participants from different institutions working with children and young people in Medellín attended the 20th Institutional Seminar  of Ciudad Don Bosco. This is an event that has been held in the Salesian centre for the past twenty years, offering training opportunities for research on the protection of children and vulnerable young people. The theme of this year’s meeting was RESILIENCE - the ability to respond positively to trauma.

One of the invited speakers was Fr Jaime González, SDB, who led the entire seminar, based on his Salesian experience in social work and on his studies for a doctorate at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. Fr González spoke about psychosocial resilience, resilience and the family, and the relationship between resilience and the Preventive System.

There were other talks on related topics: "Medellin, a resilient city" by Santiago Uribe Rocha, Director of the Office for Resilience in Medellín; "Teachers of resilience" by Esteban Páez Zapata, Coordinator of the Office for resilience of the University of Antioquia; and, finally, "Resilience and local development for innovation" by Fr Raphael Bejarano, Director of Ciudad Don Bosco.

In addition to the talks by the experts, the seminar was also enriched by the presentation of various good practices and workshops by different agencies and NGOs.  They covered topics such as: alternative methods generated by art and the circus, relationship between resilience and self-knowledge, classroom management in school life, experiential pedagogy and the pedagogy of forgiveness and reconciliation.

And in accordance with the aims of the seminar, various experiences of Ciudad Don Bosco were also presented.  These included "The Right to Dream", “The Centre of Specialized Attention” and "Ciudad Don Bosco, a story of resilience."

On 9 and 10 October, Ciudad Don Bosco will take part in the Third International Seminar on Promotion of Resilience, prevention of risky ways of behaviour.

Published 03/10/2014